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Citing a severe shortage of mental health services in Orange County, Santa Ana officials are considering turning much of their mostly-vacant city jail into a mental health treatment center. “Here in Orange County, we have a crisis with mental illness,” said Councilwoman Michele Martinez in proposing the change during Tuesday’s city council meeting. Martinez said the number of mental health treatment beds in the county dropped from 1,217 in 1995 to 481 today in a county with a total...

Watson's Soda Fountain & Café in Old Towne Orange was the backdrop Wednesday, April 5, for filming that will support an international charity campaign. Hidden cameras filmed surprised – and delighted - diners all day to promote Red Nose Day, a fundraising campaign that assists children in poverty around the world. Red Nose Day was launched in the United Kingdom by writer-director Richard Curtis through the charity Comic Relief in 1988 and launched in the United States in 2015 .

Potter’s Lane, the name of the 16-unit micro housing project on Jackson Street, bore no resemblance to what Harrell imagined a few months ago, when he first heard about the idea from people at the Veterans Affairs Community Resource and Referral Center in Santa Ana. Constructed and managed by the nonprofit American Family Housing , whose headquarters is right next door, Potter’s Lane has attracted wide attention as an innovative approach to a stubborn problem: quick and affordable housing...

Orange County will begin compiling a list of locations where it could open another emergency homeless shelter after Supervisor Shawn Nelson on Tuesday directed staff to find county-owned properties that could accommodate that function. Nelson’s direction comes six months after the county opened its first year-round emergency homeless shelter , located in Santa Ana, and about a month before it plans to open its first year-round “multi-service” shelter , in Anaheim, which will focus on finding...

Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson said Tuesday the homeless situation should be treated as an emergency and issued a call to action to find sites to house all of the county’s thousands of homeless people. At the end of a Board of Supervisors meeting in which activists again criticized supervisors, Nelson directed county staff to research how to quickly provide a bed for all of the homeless in Orange County including potentially creating campgrounds on county-owned properties. To that...

Orange County ACEs Task Force Meeting Notes February 21, 2017 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Location: Laguna Woods Village - Performing Arts Conference Room (Clubhouse #3) 23822 Avenida Sevilla Laguna Woods, CA 92630 In attendance: (alphabetical) Marguerite Bonnett, Mary Brogdon, Kathy Brous, Dana Brown, Tammy Descoteaux ● Mindfulness Moment - Everyone shared one thing they’re grateful for in their lives. ● Shared Understandings - Suggestion of adding them to the Agenda for each upcoming meeting. ●...

Orange County ACEs Task Force AGENDA March 21, 2017 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Location: Laguna Woods Village: Performing Arts Conference Room: Clubhouse #3 23822 Avenida Sevilla Laguna Woods, CA 92630 Please RSVP: Mary Brogdon-Organizer mlbrogdon@mac.com (714)624-4368 Inform Guard that you are attending the Information Meeting. Share highlight of gratitude in your last month Participatory Decision Making Process To create a safe space, our Shared Understandings are : Treat others with kindness ~...

An expert on depression spoke to members of the Neurological Support Group to inform them about the mental disorder and its effects on seniors at the group’s meeting on March 1 in the Laguna Woods Community Center. “Depression is not a normal part of aging, because it’s just not,” said Dr. Timothy Yu, a depression researcher at Irvine Clinical Research. “Depression also looks different in older people.” Older adults might not have feelings of sadness, Yu said, but can still have depression...

On March 12, 2017, thirty-two of the county’s top chefs came together at the county’s most exclusive culinary fundraiser at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, to participate at Illumination Foundation’s 2017 OC Chef’s Table . This over the event raised over $680,000 for the construction of a new emergency house for homeless families with children. “We promised last year that we are raising money for a house. We have that house now. It is a great honor and we are very happy that with...

“The County of Orange (County) Social Services Agency (SSA), Children and Family Services Division will be seeking program statements from for-profit organizations, private nonprofit organizations, public educational institutions, or municipalities with experience in providing a Drop-In Center facility that would include offering services and support to victims of sexual exploitation, potential victims and their family members. The Drop-In Center will provide services and programs for...

Accidental overdoses from prescription opioids such as Vicodin and Oxycontin soared 20 percent last year, according to my review of thousands of Orange County coroner records. The victims included all races, nearly all cities. Many lived in south county and along our gold coast stretching from Seal Beach to San Clemente. The highest concentration of victims were middle-age women. Of the 66 women who died from accidental opioid overdoses, 49 were in their 40s or older. Understand, cultural...

An article posted by BBC News captures what the children of Syria are experiencing and how many of these children don't know anything but war. This is a huge public health concern that could lead to irreversible damage to an entire generation of children. Save the Children shares, "Millions of Syrian Children could be living in a state of "Toxic Stress" due to prolonged exposure to the horrors of war." I have attached the Report, Invisible Wounds produced by Save the Children if you're...